MORE than a third of middle managers in Hampshire’s libraries are to lose their jobs.

In a bid to save cash, Hampshire County Council bosses have agreed to cut 58 full-time posts from a pool of 158 library management staff.

The cuts will affect all 53 libraries in Hampshire, including those in Aldershot, Farnborough, Fleet, Odiham and Yateley.

All library officer, supervisor and assistant supervisor posts will be scrapped under the scheme, with some of the staff filling these roles becoming assistant library managers instead.

A handful of lower-paid library assistant jobs will be offered to those who face redundancy.

In all, around one in seven librarians will go in the changes, which county council bosses said would leave the library service better able to serve the public without the risk of closures or overspending on budgets.

The council said the move would actually improve services, allowing all libraries to stay open at lunchtimes from January next year and saving a total of £1.5m a year from the current £19m budget.

In previous years, budget overspends have had to be dealt with by buying fewer new books and imposing recruitment freezes.

However the move was described as "brutal" by unions representing library staff, who protested against the decision as it was made by Hampshire’s Conservative leaders in Winchester on Wednesday last week (July 21).

Public sector union Unison said the cuts would lead to a reduction in the level and breadth of services to the public.

For more on this story, see this week's News & Mail, out on Friday, July 30.

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